Evergreen Middle School student Justin Fineberg stood on top of a high pole and gathered courage to take a leap of faith. His goal was to reach out and grab a trapeze 7 feet away, swing on it, and travel to the ground while attached to a rope.

“Just give me a minute,” Justin said as fellow students watched him from below.

After Justin successfully completed the challenge, other students followed, climbing up poles at the Genesee Experiential Outdoor Center on Sept. 18.

Jim Norton is turning pine logs into square posts with his hydraulic saw while working outdoors on a crisp afternoon.

Standing nearby is his wife, Vicki, who is helping her husband with his venture as a tree farmer, custom sawmill operator and furniture maker.

The Nortons live on 48 acres of family property in Soda Creek that has been their home for many years. For the past year, Jim and Vicki have been using the forest to establish a new business that they hope will become a thriving enterprise.

Evergreen High School’s homecoming week isn’t just for students and alums, but for the whole community.

The community portion of homecoming begins with the annual 5K Cougar Stride, sponsored by the EHS instrumental music department, on Saturday, Sept. 29. Participants in the Cougar Stride, which starts at 8:30 a.m., should park at the high school and take a bus to the starting line. The race, for both runners and walkers, goes through Alderfer/Three Sisters Park before heading back to the school.

Class sizes at the elementary-school level will increase and students in middle school and high school will have fewer electives next year if two measures on the November ballot are defeated, Jeffco Public Schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson said Sept. 20.

In elementary schools, Stevenson told parents and staff at a community forum, parents would see larger class sizes, estimating that first-grade classes would average 27 to 29 students. The district also would eliminate the instrumental music program at the elementary-school level to save money.